Coming To Life
by Alexithymea
Summary: In the middle of playing a game, something goes horribly wrong. Or horribly right. And two characters who should not exist in this world suddenly manifest.
1. Chapter 1

The buzzing of the alarm clock almost wouldn't have phased the girl playing the video game except that she had set it for this exact purpose. To tell her when it was time to go to work. As per usual, she was lost in the game she was playing, completely at its mercy, so to speak. This one she had borrowed from her brothers. It had an addicting plotline, and she reluctantly set the controller aside, leaving the game running as she so often did on one of the conversation screens. It displayed a dark haired sorcerer talking to his blue haired commander.

A phone went off at the same time the girl turned her alarm off. Her phone was under the wet towel she had used to dry her hair. She tossed the towel aside, answering the phone quickly.

"Hello?"

"Hurry you're butt up, Andy, or we're gonna be late."

"I'll be right down," Andria, or as her friends called her, Andy, said before hanging the phone up. She picked up her jacket and keys, locking her door behind her before rushing down from her apartment to meet her coworker in the parking lot. She missed the sound of wires frying behind her. She hadn't noticed that she had thrown her wet towel on her game system.

A spark flew from the system. The screen on the TV wavered for a moment before it turned black, then started glowing, sending out pulses of color. It gave off a blinding flash, then the entire power strip she had both plugged into fried, shutting the entire system down.

The light receded when the TV shut down, revealing two men laid sprawled on the floor. One had black hair pulled into a low ponytail and dark robes. The other had blue hair and was wearing a cape. With a groan, they both sat up, staring around them. The unfamiliar surroundings put pause to both of their noises of pain and confusion.

"Where are we, Soren?" the blue haired man asked quietly.

The dark haired one looked over at him. "If I knew that answer, Ike, I would gladly supply it. However, since I do not know myself, we will simply have to wait." He stood slowly, clutching his book in his hands and looking around. "I will hazard a guess that we are in a residence of some kind, judging by the amount of books and other items strewn about."

Ike stood, frowning at the items he had no idea about. "Is this some sort of mage workshop?"

"None that I have ever seen," Soren replied. He spotted the bench-like futon and sat down. He opened his wind tome and started reading. "I suggest you find some way of entertaining yourself until whoever has captured us returns."

Ike nodded and started sifting through the apartment, exploring things he had never seen before.

~o0o~

Andy made her way up to her apartment nine hours later, exhaustion creeping into her muscles. It had been a long day, and she needed a nap. She reached her door, about to stick the key in the lock when a sound from inside made her pause. Her stereo, turned way louder than she would ever have it, blared music. It was the CD she had been listening to last night and didn't bother to take out of the player. Had she left it on? Andy hurriedly opened her door and froze in her tracks.

A blue haired man was fiddling with the knobs on the stereo while a dark haired man was sitting on her couch, glaring at the other. They both looked at her when she opened the door, the man drawing the sword...SWORD?!... that was strapped to his waist and the dark haired one standing up from the couch. Andy let her hand fall from her door as she looked from one to another. She had been playing the game this morning, and these two were wearing costumes that were identical.

"Who are you?" she asked, shutting her door and walking over to the stereo to shut it off. The blue haired man took a quick step back, as if he was afraid of her.

"I am Ike, commander of the Greil Mercenaries. This is my tactician, Soren." He gestured at the other man. "Who do we have the pleasure of addressing?"

Andy laughed. "Ike and Soren? Like from the video game? Those are really good cosplay costumes. Where did you get them?"

The two men looked at each other as if they had only understood half of what she had said, which was actually the case. Soren stepped around the couch, which was between him and Andria.

"My lady, you speak as if you know of us already."

Andy laughed again and walked over to her game system. "Of course I know who you're cosplaying. I'm playing the game right now." She looked at her fried system and frowned. "What happened?" Andria turned and looked at the two again. "And for that matter, how did you get into my apartment with my door locked?"

Soren looked towards Ike, who stepped forward. "We are not completely sure ourselves how we arrived here. We were in the middle of a conversation when we were both transported here."

Freezing, Andy slowly looked at Ike. "You were having a conversation? What sort of conversation?"

"We were about to depart from Tellius on another adventure," Ike informed her. "You see, I needed to get away from the wars between the laguz and beorcs-"

He stopped talking when Andy spun on her heel and sat down heavily on her couch. "You're really from the game," she said quietly. "And now you're in my apartment..." Her favorite characters from the game had materialized in her living room. Andria took a deep breath as she stood again, turning to them. "I'm not positive how you came to be here, but I'm not quite sure what to do with you now."

The two men looked at one another and Soren spoke up as he turned back to Andria. "We were looking to leave Tellius as it was, though this is not the way we were intending to do so."

"Well, first thing's first, I should introduce you to this world," Andy said with a giggle. She, who lived best through her own imagination, was now with two men she had often imagined in this world.

"I would inquire as to the name of our worldly guide," Ike said with a slight bow.

"Oh," Andy said with a squeak. "I'm sorry. My name's Andy." She stood and looked over at them. "Soren, I have some books you can read to learn. Then maybe you can explain to Ike. Um...You'll be needing clothes." She looked down at herself, knowing that her hips were way too wide to fit the slim mage, but her clothes might fit Ike in order to get him to the store. "If you want to stay here and read, I'll find a good book for you. Ike, you and I need to run to the store..."

Andy trailed off as she hunted through her bookshelf for a book to give to Soren. She finally settled on her American History textbook and handed it to him. Soren settled on her futon again and opened the book. Going into her room, it didn't take long for her to find some clothes that might fit Ike. She handed them to him.

"You can change in my room. The pants might be a bit tight, but it'll have to work."

So she set to work introducing the two to the real world. Andria couldn't believe it, but she had two real life heroes in her small home.


	2. Chapter 2

Bags in hand, Andy and Ike made their way back up the stairs to her apartment. He was wearing new jeans and a blue t-shirt, and she almost laughed as he attempted to carrying most of the bags in his one hand and carry the pizza she had stopped to pick up in the other. She reached her floor first and shifted the bags into one arm before opening the door.

Books were sitting in stacks on the tables near the couch. She spotted Soren flipping quickly through a volume of the Encyclopedia Britanica. Andria tossed her keys onto her kitchen counter and walked over, dropping bags as she went.

"You read...all of these?"

Soren didn't look up as he nodded. He flipped the page again, his eyes traveling down the page quickly. "Fascinating world you live in. Much more technologically advanced than our own, though lacking any mages as I have seen."

Andy laughed as she threw a bag at him, which he quickly caught. "No, we don't have magic here. Which makes me wonder if your magic is going to work." She gestured at the bag. "I picked you out some clothes. Hope they fit."

He nodded and stood, carrying the bag into the other room to change. Ike sat at one of the stools at her counter, setting the pizza down. Andy picked up some of the bags and put them in her spare room. There was no bed, she used it as an office. Biting her lip, she looked over at Ike, who was focused on the pizza box.

"I don't exactly have a place for you to sleep..." She glanced at the couch. "One of you can have the couch, one can take my bed..."

Ike looked at her finally. "No. You'll sleep in your own bed. Soren can take the couch. I've slept in rougher places than your floor." He poked the box. "How do you get the food out of this contraption?"

Andria smiled and walked over, taking a plate from her cabinet. Opening the box, she took out a slice of pizza and handed it to him. "Sorry, I didn't figure you would be that hungry." Closing the box, Andy walked over to her bedroom door and knocked. "Soren? Are you okay?"

There was a muffled sound from the other side, and Andy blinked. "Do you need help?" Another muffled sound and Andy opened the door.

The archsage was standing there, trying to figure out the hoodie she had bought him. He had managed the black pants and purple button up shirt fine. Walking over, Andy took the black hoodie and straightened it out.

"It goes like this over your head." She helped him into it and took a step back. He still looked like himself, though he was now in regular clothes. "Are you hungry?"

Soren frowned. "I do hope that Ike is not eating all of your food."

"Not at all. I got a pizza for you two." She led the way out to the living room. Ike had the pizza box open and was eating his third slice. Andy had to stifle a giggle. "And Ike seems to like it just fine."

Once the two men were settled down with food, Andy went over to her TV and game system. Neither seemed damaged, just the powerstrip that was plugged in. She removed the outlets and found her extra splitter, plugging that in instead. Reconnecting the TV and game system into the wall, she turned the TV on. The loud blare of a cable channel caused one of the men behind her to drop something. She quickly turned the volume down and flipped the channels. The TV was undamaged. Andy changed the input and turned the game on.

It started up like always, going through the credit screens. When the main title came up, however, there was a gasp behind her and she heard someone leap over the back of her couch and land next to her. Ike pressed his hands up to the screen then whirled on Andy.

"You are a sorceress. You have been spying on us."

"She is not a sorceress, Ike," Soren said from behind her. "From what I have gathered, this is a system upon which games are played. We are...were...fictional characters until whatever accident led us to be here happened." Andy couldn't help but notice the calmness in Soren's voice. He was taking this amazingly well.

Ike wasn't so calm. "Fictional...characters? But we are real! We lived there!" He turned to Soren as Andy continued past the opening scenes into her saved game. "That's...impossible."

"This is how their realm entertains themselves."

Their conversation faded into the background of Andy's mind as she opened her latest save file. All the characters were there. Except Ike and Soren. She stared at her screen for a moment, then dropped the controller.

"What do those numbers mean?" Soren asked.

"They tell how powerful each character is," Andy answered automatically. She switched the game off, pushing herself up to the couch. Soren was leaning on the back of it over her head. Andy rubbed her arm, staring at the blank screen. Her cell phone started going off, causing both Ike and Soren to jump. Andria reached into her pocket and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, girl. We're getting a bunch of us together and going out. You in?"

"Heather, I have company here-"

"Bring them along," her friend said quickly, cutting her off. "Are they guys? Are they cute?"

Andy sighed. "Yes, they are. But we really can't-"

"Oh, come on, you never do anything fun! You're twenty-one and never go out with us."

The pleading, pathetic tone of voice Heather was using was wearing an already exhausted Andy down. "Fine. Just...give me a moment. Where do you want to meet-"

"Down the street, there's that bar. Meet us there."

Her phone went dead and Andy hung it up, sticking it back into her pocket with a sigh. This whole thing was getting out of hand. She turned and looked at Ike, who was looking confused. Soren was less so, having read about cell phones. She groaned and flopped down on the couch, ignoring the sounds of alarm from Ike. A hand touched her back.

"Andy? Are you injured?"

She waved him off. "Sure. Fictional characters come alive all the time around me."

After a moment, she sat up again. "Well, I guess we're going out. Soren, you're fine in what you're wearing. Ike, we need to find you something else." She hurried through the bags, hoping that tonight wasn't going to get any harder than it already was.


	3. Chapter 3

The bar was less than a bar, more of a club. Andy groaned as she saw the bouncer at the front checking IDs before allowing anyone into the building. Ike was sitting in the passenger seat of her car, Soren in the backseat. Andria could have facepalmed at that moment. She instead settled on parking her car and dropping her head onto her steering wheel.

Ike didn't notice that the driver was currently trying to put her head through the steering wheel. He was still fascinated with the machine they were in. Soren noticed, however, and put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"I forgot about IDs," she said quietly. At the look Ike shot her, she grinned, realizing he had no idea what had her upset. "They won't let you in the bar unless they know you're of a certain age."

She sat there for a moment longer before an idea sprung upon her. She turned to Soren. "How many languages can you speak?"

"Well...I never stopped to count. I know quite a few, and-"

"That's perfect," she said, cutting him off. She opened her door and grabbed her bag, waiting for the others to join her. Soren managed his door, but Ike was at a loss. Andy stifled a giggle and went to open his door. She looked at the two. "Okay, Soren, just speak whatever language you can think of. Leave this to me."

She walked up to the bouncer and handed him her ID. When he looked back at Ike and Soren, she put her hand on the bouncer's arm. "Sir, could you just let them in. I promise they're twenty-one. They're are foreign and visiting for the week." She hauled Soren forward, who started mumbling in an indistinct language. He was pointing at different things and Andria shrugged. "They don't require IDs back in their home, but they have passports. Only we left them in the hotel." She smiled at the bouncer, who just sighed at her.

"Fine. But if they start any trouble, you'll be responsible."

Andy nodded and ushered the two in. "I promise there will be no trouble at all."

~o0o~

Andria regretted bringing Ike almost immediately. All the girls in her group were flirting with the two men. Soren stuck close to Andria, knowing she wouldn't let him get into too much trouble. Ike was a different story.

He was currently dancing his second dance with the same girl, which for him was girl number four. Andy was sitting at the table with Soren and Heather, watching the fun. She sucked down her drink as quickly as she could, wanting to get drunk as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the alcohol didn't quite have the wanted effect. Instead of making her less aware, she was becoming too aware.

~o0o~

It was getting to one o'clock in the morning when Andy decided to call it a night. The bar's drunk bus was running, and she was getting ready to go. Soren put on the hoodie he had worn, but Ike was still dancing. Andy walked over to Ike and pulled on his arm.

"C'mon. We gotta go."

Ike looked at her. "But this is so much fun."

Heather, who was Ike's current dance partner, looked at Andria. "Don't be such a party pooper. Let him stay. I'll bring him home myself."

'That's what I'm afraid of,' Andria thought to herself. "Okay. But don't stay out too late." She turned to Soren. "Let's go."

Soren nodded and followed Andy to the drunk bus. The driver's wife was driving her car back to the apartments, so Andria sat down on one of the seats. Soren took the window seat. As the bus started moving, Andy's stomach heaved slightly. She groaned and laid down across Soren's lap, her eyes closed, her face an odd shade of green. Soren stiffened, but relaxed enough to look at her.

"You look ill."

"I feel ill," Andy answered, not opening her eyes. She tried to count in her head how many drinks she had consumed in the last five hours, but lost count at twenty. "I think I drank too much."

Soren just sat there, staring ahead until the bus stopped. He helped Andy up the stairs and to her apartment, taking the keys and unlocking the front door. Andria went immediately to the bathroom and threw up, ridding her system of the unwanted toxins. Soren leaned against the wall outside the bathroom, waiting for her.

"Tonight wasn't a complete disaster," he said conversationally as she rinsed out her mouth. "Ike had a good time."

Andy appeared at the door, her hair hanging around her face, the dent in it from being in a ponytail for so long. "But did anyone else?"

"The other females seemed to enjoy it." He glanced at her. "Why didn't you dance with Ike?"

"I don't dance with people I don't want to dance with," Andy said simply. Soren's eyebrows raised, the brand on his forehead, which had earned him many interested questions from the group tonight, crinkled.

"Everyone seemed to want to dance with him tonight."

Andria huffed out air. "Well...I didn't." She passed him to her room and shut the door, twisting the lock for the first time since she moved into the apartment. Stripping off her clothes, she changed into her yoga pants and tank top she usually wore to bed. She threw her robe on and opened the door again, seeing Soren where she had left him, his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"Are you tired?"

Soren smiled and shrugged. "I suppose I could use some sleep."

Nodding absently, Andy went to one of the bags and pulled out a black pair of pajamas. Pulling the tags off, she tossed them at Soren. "You can sleep in those. I don't know what you usually wear to bed, but those will be more comfortable than what you're wearing."

He nodded and disappeared for a moment into the bathroom, reappearing in the pajamas. She had picked well once again. They looked natural on him. Andy picked up a ponytail holder from her counter and held it out to him. "So your hair doesn't get tangled in the night."

Soren nodded and pulled his hair into a low ponytail. He walked over to the couch and eyed it speculatively. Andy smiled and went to her room to grab the extra bedding. When she got out to the living room, Soren was on the couch, reading again. He looked over at her, then frowned and stood so she could make up his bed.

"If you get hungry, there's food in the fridge," she said, pointing. "And you know how to use the faucet?"

He nodded. "These books have explained a great deal of things. I think I'll manage."

She nodded again and disappeared back into her room. Andria set her alarm for nine, which would give her almost eight hours of sleep. Crawling under her blankets, she fell asleep quickly.

Soren wasn't so lucky. He stayed up reading until three. When he ran out of books, he stood and walked over to Andria's open door, watching her sleep. He didn't predict Ike being back tonight. He knew from the tone of the girl's voice and the look in Ike's eyes that they were going to go somewhere to be alone. But that was Ike's business, not Soren's. Soren was where he wanted to be, with the girl who had more or less created him with her clumsiness.

She slept soundly, not turning once while he watched. He leaned on her door frame for a few minutes more, then went back to the couch, pulling the blankets aside so he could crawl under. His last thought before he fell asleep was that this world was quite interesting, and he wanted to stay here for as long as he could, to learn all he could, and find out more about their less than willing host.


	4. Chapter 4

Ike grunted as he tried to shove his end of the futon through the door. Soren could have laughed at Ike and Andy's friend, B, who were trying to move the futon into the spare room to give the swordsman a place to sleep. Andria WAS laughing.

This was the funniest thing she had seen in awhile.

"If we tilt it this way, maybe it'll slide in," B suggested.

Andy resisted the urge to say 'that's what she said'. It was too juvenile and something that would be lost on the other two anyway. She instead contented herself to laughing harder as B suddenly turned red. With one final shove, the two men managed to get it into the room, where they promptly dropped and sat upon it. Andy tossed Soren some bottled water, which he gave to the two men lounging in the spare room.

B looked at Andria. "I know it's not much-"

"But it's better than what we had," she supplied for him. "I'm just really glad it fit."

B smiled. "That's what she said."

Throwing a pillow at her friend, she shook her head. "That's a little immature." Ike was staring at them in confusion, but Soren had a small smile on his face. The mage rarely smiled, but he had figured out in the past three days that if something was said that he didn't understand it was usually an inside joke or a sexual innuendo. After he figured that much out, he could usually decipher what was being said.

Andria turned back to her living room and surveyed the destruction. Her lamp had been knocked over and the books that Soren had stacked on the counter were everywhere. She put both hands to her eyes and rubbed them. "You two are more trouble than you're worth, do you know that?"

Soren shot her a look that she missed because she was covering her eyes. "You think we are trouble?"

At his slightly hurt tone, she looked over at him. "No, you're not trouble. You're...well, Ike's trouble, but you're not, Soren." She smiled at him, which relaxed him slightly.

Ike pouted at her, though. "I'm trouble? Oh, my lady, whatever would give you that notion?"

B looked over at the blue-haired man. "Dude, bad idea. Don't ask her why we're trouble. She'll be..." He shuddered. "Honest." B had said the word like it was dirty, which made Andy laugh.

"Hey, just because I don't spare your feelings doesn't mean I can't be nice about it." She went to her refrigerator and opened it, shocked to find it slightly empty. "Well...who wants to go out to dinner tonight? Seems I'm out of food. Again."

Soren glared at Ike. "I told you not to eat all her food."

"I didn't," Ike said defensively. He glared at Soren. "I think she needs a supply officer."

To Andy's dismay, Soren nodded in agreement. "I know. I was just thinking that."

B had to stifle his laughter. After hearing the entire story of how Ike and Soren came to be, mainly because he was one of the few who asked and knew about the game, he was invited over to be Ike's friend. Soren wanted little to do with B, but Ike found his company more to his liking than spending every moment with Andy and Soren, who were still trying to figure out how it had happened.

Soren looked over at Andy. "Should we go get supplies? Or are we going out?"

Andria rubbed her temples slightly and frowned. "Supplies, I guess. Come on Soren, we'll leave these two lumps to eat the rest of my food."

Ike's indignant "It wasn't me" and B's laughter rang in her ears as she grabbed her keys and led the way to her car. Soren got into the passenger side once she unlocked the door and she sat down, slamming her door shut in inexplicable frustration. The dark haired man looked over at her, a frown firmly in place.

"He is trying, Andria." Soren put on his seat belt. It had taken only one threat from Andy to get them to wear it. "It's harder for him, I think. He left so much there that it's difficult for him to fully be here."

"You adjusted fine," she said quickly as she started the car.

"Yes, well, I didn't leave that much behind. My only friend is here with me now."

Andy started down the road, thinking on what Soren said. Of course she hadn't thought of that. Until four days ago, Ike had had a sister, friends, a life. Now he was in the real world. She sighed and glanced over at Soren.

"If I could find a way to send you back, I would if that was your wish."

Soren shook his head. "That would be Ike's wish, I think. Not mine. I've felt more at home here than in all of my years in Tellius. And I doubt they'll notice there. If I did my math correctly, it'll be as if we never were. Someone else will take our place there. We won't be missed much."

Andy glanced over at him. He truly didn't seem upset about it. That shocked Andy a bit. "You...won't miss anyone?"

"You know my story," he said simply.

They drove past a park and Soren looked out the window at a boy flying his kite in one of the secluded parks. He put a hand on Andria's arm, causing her to look over.

"Can we stop? I've been meaning to try and see if I can still use..."

She nodded and pulled over, shutting the car off and grabbing her messenger bag where his tomes were kept. Since he was sent with everything he had on him, Soren found he still had his elwind, elfire, and elthunder tomes on him. Andy was just as curious as to whether it would work as well. They both walked to the quiet end of the park where there wasn't any other people.

Soren took his elwind tome and stood near a tree, Andria behind him. He opened the book for the first time since arriving and flipped to the appropriate page. She watched as his eyes closed and he stuck one hand outward, chanting under his breath.

Andy's hair stirred slightly...

Soren's jacket twitched...

The trees swayed...

Andy heard it first, a growing growl from the sky.

Everything became darker, the clear sky clouding over in a sort of funnel, the wind picking up dramatically. Leaves started blowing around on the ground, and the rumbling grew.

The wind came and scythed into the earth, leaving a destroyed area in the grass. Several tree branches fell, split from their trees. Andria fell to her knees, staring at the area of destruction.

Soren closed the book with a satisfied sigh. When he turned, he saw Andy on the ground and hurried over.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. It's just not everyday that you see..."

He put a hand on her arm, kneeling down. "I know it's a shock. It always is the first time one sees it." He gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Let us go."

"Before someone comes," Andy said, standing. "I still can't believe that worked."

They walked back to her car, ignoring the crowd that was gathering behind them Andria was amazed she made it to the store without getting pulled over. They got the groceries and hurried back to the apartment, barely a word said between them.


	5. Chapter 5

"And in other news-"

"A freak windstorm-"

"-authorities have no leads-"

"-suspected vandals at a local park-"

Andy flipped off the TV after only five minutes of channel surfing. Soren and Ike were sitting at the table fiddling with one of her old cell phones. She tossed the remote aside moments before someone knocked hard on her door. Andy stood and walked over to her door, looking through the peephole.

"Crap," she muttered under her breath. She opened the door and a man, taller than her and with much lighter hair, glared at her.

"Andria," he said angrily. "You didn't return my calls after you cancelled our date."

"I'm sorry, Matt, I didn't-"

"I don't understand, Andy! Were you just going to cut off all communication with me and hope I just disappeared?" He shoved his way into her apartment, not seeing either of the other men, both who had come alert at the sound of shouting. "It's not as if I'm going to just vanish, you know!"

Andria was speechless. Matthew was her sort-of boyfriend, but they hadn't gone exclusive yet. "Wait...I'm lost. I only cancelled once-"

"And didn't call me for a how many days?" He turned to pace and froze at the sight of Ike standing slowly from his seat. Matt turned on Andy. "Who the hell are they?"

Andy growled at him. "None of your-"

Matt grabbed her arm, his roughness bruising her. "I knew it. I knew you were che-"

He didn't get any further as he was lifted from his feet and shoved bodily into the wall. Ike held him several inches off the floor, his arm pressed to Matt's throat. Soren went to Andy, checking her arm, seeing the bright red marks that had been left.

Soren looked towards Matt. "You dare lay your hands on a woman?"

Ike bared his teeth in Matt's face. "If I ever see you talk to her again, I will be certain that it will be the last time you breath."

He let the other man fall to the ground. Matt took a moment rubbing his throat before he fled the apartment. Ike shut the door and locked it, turning back to where Soren had sat Andria on a chair. It appeared as if she was in shock.

"Andria?" Soren asked quietly. "Who was he?"

Andy looked up, meeting Soren's oddly red eyes. They could pass as brown in the right lighting, but here they were red. "He is...was...my kind of boyfriend. I wasn't ready to go further, so we...and he wanted...but we didn't..." She shrugged, not sure what she was saying, but sure that she was confusing them.

"He's gone now," Ike said reassuringly. He looked at Soren. "I'm going to go to B's apartment for awhile. He said he wanted to watch a movie...whatever that is." Ike unlocked the door and let himself out, leaving Soren kneeling in front of Andy.

"I'm fine, Soren. Really."

"You don't look fine," the archsage said slowly. "And he hurt you."

"It's nothing. I've had worse."

Soren simply shook his head, at a loss as to what to say. "Humans are odd creatures, to be sure. Especially in this world." He stood and went to her freezer, pulling out the ice pack she had shown him when Ike had tripped over her cell phone's power cord. He handed it to her and then turned again, running her a glass of water. "Drink this."

Andy nodded and took the water. It was odd to her that Soren was taking care of her. He usually did this for Ike. Not her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked suddenly.

"Like what?"

"Like you're confused about something," he replied, his tone of voice never changing. "Like I fascinate you."

"You do fascinate me," Andy said. She stood and went over to the couch where she had been sitting earlier. Soren joined her. "You wanna watch a movie?"

The archsage nodded. "Sure."

Andy put in Kate and Leopold without really stopping to think about the movie she had chosen. The credits rolled as she made popcorn. When she hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to Soren, the movie was already beginning with a man running through the eighteen hundreds streets.

Soren didn't care much for the popcorn, but he ate some nonetheless. He asked questions sometimes regarding certain situations in the movie, then would watch the scenes pensively. As the movie ended, Soren looked over at Andria. It worried him that after the happy ending of the movie, she appeared sad.

"Why does the ending make you sad?"

Andria shrugged, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I guess...I'm single, living in an apartment, I've never even had a serious boyfriend. Every girl just wants to be swept off her feet by some handsome stranger she was eventually destined to be with." She blinked but still didn't look at Soren. "But we all know deep down it's not meant to happen."

"How do you know some man isn't just sitting there waiting for the woman of his dreams to look his way?" Soren asked quietly, his tone not as harsh as it usually sounded. He was usually very sarcastic, but not now.

"Because that's just not how the world works," Andy said, finally looking at Soren. "There's very little magic in this world and no room for miracles." She stood and stretched, headed towards her bedroom. "Goodnight Soren."

The archsage watched her as she slipped into her room, shutting her door firmly behind her. Soren changed into his night clothes and went out to the kitchen, getting a glass of water from the faucet. He finished the water, then set the glass down, leaning on the counter with both hands. She was oblivious to what he was trying to say, that much was clear.

Ike came back not much later. He grinned at Soren as he helped himself to some of the leftovers in the fridge. "What did you two do tonight?"

"Watched a movie and talked," Soren said, deadpan.

Ike winked at him. "Did you finally tell her how you feel then?"

"Tried," Soren responded, sitting on one of the stools at the counter. "I don't think she feels the same."

"You never know," his friend said with another grin. "She might surprise you."

"I don't think so. Ike...She doesn't believe in magic or miracles, that much is clear."

Ike put a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "Well, then, it's a good thing you have both of those in abundance. I'm for bed. Don't stay up too late."

Soren nodded and went to the couch, laying down as Ike took the futon in the other room. He fell asleep to the thoughts of proving to Andria that magic still existed.

Andy slid down her wall, tears still streaming down her face. It had been inevitable, she knew, but it still hurt more than she was willing to admit. She sat in her room crying until she finally made it to her bed and cried herself to sleep.


End file.
